The Return
by Gogeta Uzumaki
Summary: It's been 8 years since Inchiki has been seen and disturbances have been reported near the northern border of Konoha. Naruto and his team are sent to investigate, but what they find is the fight of their lives. THIS IS A SEQUAL. PLEASE READ UCHIHA UPRISING FIRST.
1. Promotion

For once the air seemed to quiet down. The Autumn wind blew through the stadium carrying red and gold leaves. Ki'iro and Hizashi stood opposite each other as they did almost every day. They trained together so often in the past eight years that they already knew what the other's first move was, but neither could deny the thrill of their fights. Ki'iro's long red hair waved in the breeze and she cursed herself for wearing shorts and a midriff. Hizashi was quite comfortable in his traditional Hyuuga robes and his short dark hair barely moved in the wind. The cousins each had a single Byakugan and they glared at each other with it; something they called the 'Evil Eye.' A man to Ki'iro's left had his hand raised. He looked at them both with a serious face and dropped his hand.

"Begin!" he said and the air filled with cheers once again.

Ki'iro moved first and rushed forward with her Jyuuken, but Hizashi retreated, pulling out his scrolls of ninja tools. He unfurled one and ten shuriken erupted from the paper, but Ki'iro easily countered with her Kaiten. She lunged forward to strike Hizashi's tenketsu, but he countered her attack with his own Jyuuken. They each traded blows, neither one managing to strike the chakra points perfectly. Hizashi ducked a blow and retreated again.

Both shinobi were breathing hard now, but their smiles showed how much they were enjoying this. Ki'iro brought her thumb to her lip and drew blood before summoning her favorite frog: Gamaka. The large red toad croaked once and spat fire at Hizashi who leapt into the air. He summoned some kunai and threw them at Gamaka. The blades sank deep into his skin and exploded, causing the frog to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Hizashi landed and rushed toward the cloud where he knew Ki'iro was, but when the smoke cleared, Ki'iro was holding a Rasengan. Hizashi skidded to a halt just as Ki'iro launched her attack.

Hizashi instinctively called on his fox; Izanagi, for help and the Kyuubi's Cloak enveloped him. The Rasengan hit him in the chest, but the Cloak took the brunt of the attack and Hizashi was only knocked backwards. An ugly look washed over Ki'iro's face; they had promised not to use their foxes in this fight. She scowled and called upon her own fox; Izanami. The Cloak blossomed around her as well and she used it to form a Rasengan in each hand. Hizashi smirked and using his Cloak he held four large shuriken. They each prepared their attack, but then a whistle blew and the crowd roared in frustration.

Ki'iro reluctantly allowed her Rasengans and Cloak to dissipate and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hizashi do the same. The man who had started their match moved between them and faced the crowd. He formed a seal and when he spoke; his voice was amplified by his chakra.

"The match has been decided." He announced, "The Hokage decided to end the match here for fear of the shinobi destroying the stadium and also because he realizes they are evenly matched. He has therefore called this match…a draw."

The audience booed their disapproval of this decision and the cousins shared in their disappointment. The fight had just started getting good. The man raised his hands once more and eventually, the crowd calmed down.

"As we have two winners of this tournament, they shall both be awarded the title of Jounin."

Ki'iro and Hizashi shared a look and their hearts soared with the cheers of the crowd. They gave each other a quick hug before turning and waving to the crowd which only grew more excited; even as they left the field. They arrived in the waiting area and found their friends waiting for them.

Iwa was first to greet them. He rushed forward and slapped Hizashi on the shoulder. His hair was still the same as Lee's but since his eyebrows had never grown in, he now sported a thick moustache. He still shared his father's fashion sense as well, the bright green body suit and leg warmers proudly displayed.

"Congratulations, you two! Now you're both Jounin like me!" Iwa said happily.

Shikage was next and she ran up to Ki'iro, wrapping her in a hug. Her long blonde hair mixed with Ki'iro's red before she finally released her. Shikage wore the functional clothing of Suna; a long dark dress cut to the hip worn over a pair of long pants. On her back she carried a large scroll that contained her favorite puppets.

"You were amazing, Ki'iro! It's no wonder you knocked me out of the tournament in the early rounds." She said with a smile.

Finally Kurotsubaki came forward. She was wearing glasses, shorts and her Chuunin vest over a tank top. She was always changing her hair color to match her favorite flower, but today it was lavender. She snapped her book shut and smiled at her two friends.

"Congrats. It's no surprise I lost either." She said simply before returning to her book.

The five friends left the arena an hour later after the promotion ceremony and decided to celebrate at Ichiraku's. This had become a bit of a tradition since Naruto had brought them here post every successful mission. They each ordered their usual meals and continued to celebrate. They didn't even notice that the sun was setting until a familiar face poked in through the door.

"I take it we have some new Jounin among us?" Naruto asked.

Naruto was greeted with fresh cheers and Ki'iro launched herself into her father's arms, "I did it To-san! Hizashi-kun and I are both Jounin now!"

"Hizashi-kun, too?"

"Yes sir!" Hizashi said proudly.

"The usual, Hokage-sama?" Teuchi, the shop owner asked.

"Not today, Oji-san." Naruto said, disappointment obvious in his voice, "I actually have to take these five somewhere."

"Where to, To-san?" Ki'iro asked.

Naruto wouldn't say, but paid for the five bowls of ramen before ushering them away from the shop and down the street. He remained silent as they walked onward, but soon they realized that they were heading for the Hyuuga mansion. Hizashi lived in the mansion, but Ki'iro had visited to train and see her aunt Hanabi so often that she considered it a second home. The other three on the other hand had never seen the inside of the mansion and they did their best to hide their excitement. Soon they arrived, but the mansion was dark.

Naruto opened the front gate and allowed the teenagers to enter before him. Inside they found a single small fire burning in the middle of the mansion's courtyard. Standing in front of it was a person silhouetted by the fire. Naruto walked from behind the teens and moved to stand next to the silhouetted man. Naruto folded his arms and nodded to the other person. When he spoke, the man's voice was low and harsh.

"The two new Jounin, Ki'iro Uzumaki and Hizashi Hyuuga, come forward." They did as they were told, but glanced back at their friends who looked just as confused. They knelt before the shadowy figure and he continued. "You are now Jounin, that cannot be taken away from you, however, you still put many lives at risk during your battle. You also abandoned the teachings that Naruto drilled into your heads and used your foxes unnecessarily in battle." Ki'iro and Hizashi hung their heads in shame, "A punishment shall be decided, but for tonight, let us celebrate your promotion."

Suddenly the fire was extinguished and every light in the mansion flared to life revealing the other person to be the current Hokage: Konohamaru. People began to move out of the mansion and soon the courtyard was filled with friends, family, music and cheers. Small pops echoed through the mansion and confetti began to rain down on Ki'iro and Hizashi who both had not moved.

Naruto and Konohamaru approached the two Jounin and raised them to their feet. Ki'iro stared into her father's face; if he was upset, he didn't show it and she slowly returned his smile. Hizashi looked into Konohamaru's face which was stern, but at the same time warm and Hizashi understood. Both Jounin nodded and turned to greet the crowd. Hinata and Hanabi appeared next to Ki'iro and both wrapped her in a hug while Hizashi hugged Tenten and shook Neji's hand. Everybody else was there as well: Sakura and Lee with their youngest son; Midoriyama, huddled around Iwa, Shikamaru and Temari calmly talked with Shikage and Ino and Sai scolded Kurotsubaki for not trying harder. Even Moegi and her son Asuma had managed to come and they stood with Konohamaru. Many others were present at the party and soon the idea of a punishment was forgotten and everyone began to enjoy themselves.

A few hours in, Hizashi had had his fill of partying and after excusing himself from his parents, quietly made his way into the mansion. He had just slid the shoji door shut, when someone else tried to open it. Ki'iro burst in, too, looking worried.

"Are you ok?" she asked, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hizashi said, "Just tired."

Ki'iro fixed him with a stare and studied him closely. Hizashi returned the stare nonchalantly. He knew that she had had a crush on him years ago, but that had faded into a simple love for a cousin. Still Hizashi couldn't deny Ki'iro's beauty and his heart beat a little faster under her scrutiny. She seemed to come to a decision and closed the shoji door behind her.

"You tied, too?" Hizashi asked, stifling a yawn.

"Not really…just tired of being surrounded by people."

"I though you enjoyed that sort of thing." Hizashi said with a smirk.

Ki'iro was about to retaliate but suddenly the music and chatter outside died. Ki'iro opened the door a crack and they both peeked out into the courtyard. An Anbu Black Ops knelt in front of Konohamaru and was giving what sounded like an urgent report. Konohamaru nodded and the shinobi vanished with a gust of wind. He then glanced at Naruto and Moegi, both nodding in agreement. The three excused themselves and followed the Anbu.

The party remained silent for a few minutes, but soon was back in full swing. Ki'iro and Hizashi returned to the throng and searched for their friends. They soon found Iwa dancing with his younger brother Midoriyama and Asuma. When he saw them, Iwa pulled them into his dance and they reluctantly joined it.

"Ki'iro-san!" Asuma cried. He often saw her when she helped out Naruto in the Hokage's office and had come to think of her as an older sister. They often played together in the Hokage mansion when she wasn't needed and she had even taught him a few basics of ninjutsu. "Congratulations on becoming a Jounin!"

"Thanks, Ma-kun." Ki'iro said as she gracefully danced on the spot. "What did the Anbu have to say?"

"Some kind of disturbance up north." Iwa said lamely as he struck pose after weird pose.

"Sheesh, can you be more specific?" Hizashi said as he awkwardly shuffled his feet.

But at that point Iwa started striking poses even faster and seemed to be in his own world. Asuma and Midoriyama laughed and clapped for him and Hizashi knew he was unreachable now. Thankfully he felt a hand on his shoulder and when he turned, Shikage was standing there.

"Want to know what the Anbu said?"

"You heard him, Shikage-chan?" Ki'iro said, glad to be able to stop dancing.

"Not exactly." She said, "Is there somewhere a little more private? This information isn't exactly public knowledge." The three snuck away back into the mansion and up to Hizashi's room. Only when the door was shut and locked behind them did Shikage talk. "Ok, I'm not even supposed to know this. I overheard the Kazekage talking to my parents about it. It seems there have been reports of tailed monsters up north."

"You mean Bijuu?" Ki'iro and Hizashi said simultaneously.

"From what I heard they don't know for sure. I know the Kazekage dispatched ninja to investigate." Shikage said, "I can only assume that the disturbances are getting closer to the border with the Land of Fire since Konoha has now been made aware of them."

"Perhaps Ki'iro should go spy on them." Kurotsubaki said from the window, "She works there already anyway."

"K-Kurotsubaki!" they all yelled.

"What?"

"I thought this room was private!" Shikage hissed.

"Oh…am I disturbing something? My bad." Kurotsubaki said with a smirk.

"Don't misunderstand." Hizashi said opening his window.

The four shinobi plotted for an hour and as the party outside was coming to an end, they snuck across the roof of the mansion and leapt through the village of Konoha. Soon they came to the Hokage mansion and found two ninja guarding the front gate. As they approached the two ninja ordered them to halt.

"Sorry, Ki'iro-chan." One said upon recognizing her, "Top secret meeting: no one allowed in."

"Of course. We understand right guys?" Kurotsubaki said standing between her friends and the guards, "But you both are such good shinobi, I think I'll give you a present."

Both guards shared a look but then Kurotsubaki's cute smile reassured them. They nodded as she pulled out her ink and scroll and began to scribble on the parchment. Soon she had drawn a flower for each of them and after forming a seal, she lifted them from the page. She offered a flower to each guard and both accepted, taking the flower in their hands. Kurotsubaki gave them another cute smile before blowing them a kiss and they both collapsed at her feet.

"Desert rose." She said, her cute smile vanishing, "I don't even need to draw thorns anymore; the poison simply flows in through the skin. Never fails."

"You've got to teach me how to do that!" Shikage said, amazed at how easily Kurotsubaki had seduced the guards.

"Read the Icha-Icha series. You'll understand men after that." Kurotsubaki said simply.

They entered the gate and quietly made their way through the mansion with no further adversity. Ki'iro easily lead them to the Hokage's office where luckily the door was cracked. A light was on in the office and a beam of light spilled into the hall. From their angle, little could be seen save for Naruto and Moegi's backs. Konohamaru was also speaking in a low voice so it was difficult to hear him.

"Can you hear them?" Shikage asked.

"No, but these should help." Ki'iro said and summoned two small toads. "One listens and one speaks."

The others looked confused, but Ki'iro sent one toad into the Hokage's office and it stealthily made its way to Konohamaru's desk. Meanwhile the other toad opened its mouth and soon they could hear Konohamaru's voice coming from its throat. The others were impressed, but Ki'iro hushed them and they listened.

"But if they're Bijuu then you're going to want to send experts!" Naruto hissed. "There's no one better for the job than myself. Bee is getting older and it's hard for Gaara to leave being the Kazekage. There aren't any other Jinchurriki besides the three of us and I'm the only one who can go now. Send me!"

"We don't know if they're Bijuu or not yet, Naruto." Konohamaru said with a sigh. "I don't want to alarm the other countries by deploying the strongest shinobi in the world and then having it turn out to be nothing."

"What about the reports from the Suna shinobi?" Naruto demanded, "They haven't returned right? That proves that these aren't just hoaxes."

"I think Naruto-san is right." Moegi said softly, "Even if they're not Bijuu, these things are still strong. Perhaps it's in our best interests to send Naruto. Even if it is just an abnormally strong animal, at least it'll be dealt with then and there."

"I'm sorry, Naruto-niichan, but I'm sending a scout party first. That's my final decision." Konohamaru said.

Through his Byakugan, Hizashi could see Naruto's hands clenching tighter, but he let his anger go and reluctantly accepted the decision. He turned on the spot, but in the process, kicked the listening toad and it burst into smoke. Immediately, Naruto activated his Golden Cloak and Konohamaru shattered the light with a kunai. Naruto rushed the door and he burst through it into the hallway, light from his own body filling the hall.

Naruto saw no one and let his Cloak fade, "False alarm," he muttered.

He stepped back into the room and closed the door behind him. Only then did each of the shinobi in the hall exhale and allow themselves to fall from the ceiling. Each landed silently and retreated out of the mansion. As they ran past, Kurotsubaki noticed the guards were coming around. She knelt before the one that seemed the most conscious and took his hand in hers, putting it over her breast. The guard's hazy eyes focused on her and then they went wide.

"What do you think you're doing?" she said in mock surprise.

"I-I don't-"

"Oh, I'm going to have to report this to Hokage-sama." She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What…but I didn't-"

"You pervert!" She said shoving his hand away.

"No…please don't…"

"P-Promise not to tell anyone you saw us and I won't report you." She said shyly. The guard nodded slightly and seemed to pass out again.

"You learned that from Icha-Icha?" Shikage asked, but Kurotsubaki remained silent. "Ok, let me try then."

Shikage knelt down before the other guard who was coming around as well and put his hand over her breast as well. He also took a moment to focus but when he did, he yanked his hand out of Shikage's grip.

"What the hell were you doing?" the guard demanded.

"I…I should ask you the same thing." Shikage stammered. "N-Now apologize or I'll tell on you!"

"Yeah right, you were the one doing weird things when I was unconscious, I'll just tell on you."

"W-W-Who would believe the guy over a girl?" Shikage said, completely taken aback.

"Please, mister shinobi, just let us go." Kurotsubaki said, her cute smile back with fake tears to boot.

"Oh, I guess it's ok…no harm done after all." The guard said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thank you so much." Kurotsubaki said, bowing many times. Both kunoichi fled and found their friends snickering around the corner.

"What?" Shikage demanded, blushing madly.

"Oh nothing…" Ki'iro said, covering in mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggles.

"Hizashi-kun…is Kurotsubaki-chan that much sexier than me?" Shikage said, using her own cute smile.

"Staying out of this one." Hizashi said holding up his hands.

This only made Ki'iro laugh more and she only stopped when Shikage summoned her puppet.

"Enough. Let's talk about what we heard."

An hour later, Ki'iro was making her way back to her house. She yawned openly as she walked through the streets. In the end they hadn't learned much that they didn't already know; just that Naruto wasn't happy with Konohamaru's decision to send a scouting party first. Ki'iro briefly wondered who would be in the search party: probably someone strong as well as being a good tracker. Her mind began to wonder and she didn't notice as a shadowy figure fell in behind her.

"Ki'iro.." said a scary voice.

She froze in her tracks; visions of zombies, vampires, and other monsters racing through her mind. She slowly turned on the spot only to find her father standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

"To-san!" she yelled, "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry." He said, never losing his smile, "Well what did you hear?"

"Huh?"

"I'm no fool, Ki'iro-chan. I know I kicked the listening toad and I sense all four of you in my Golden Cloak."

"Busted." Ki'iro moaned, "We didn't hear much. Just that there's rumors of tailed monsters up north."

"What do you think of this?"

"Me?" Ki'iro said, surprised, "Um…I don't know. There's a chance that the Bijuu have returned, but that's rather unlikely isn't it?"

"It is." Naruto agreed. "Currently there are three Jinchurriki of the Kyuubi, Killer Bee has the Hachibi and all the others were sealed away. There's only one other place they could have come from."

Suddenly Ki'iro felt a chill run down her spine. How could all of them have forgotten about that man, "Inchiki."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Naruto said ominously.


	2. Loss

It was a cool autumn day in the forests of the Land of Fire. The trees had begun to change, but here and there, green ones clung to summer. Kakashi, Gai and Shino moved effortlessly through the trees on the look-out for anything unusual. They'd been ordered to the northern border to investigate sightings of large monsters attacking villages. So far everything seemed normal; Shino was even surprised by how relaxed his beetles were. The trees suddenly stopped and the three ninja could hardly believe their eyes.

The land was completely devastated. Trees had been uprooted and tossed like toys, mountains had huge chunks ripped out of their sides and what little was left of the village was in flames. Shino released some of his beetles and as they searched for survivors, the three ninja tried to make sense of the damage.

"What could've caused this?" Kakashi asked, staring at the wounded mountains.

"Monsters are a bit easier to believe after seeing this." Gai muttered.

Soon the beetles returned to Shino and he gestured to the ground. The three left the trees and Shino lead them to man buried under the wreckage of his house. They easily excavated him and when they finally woke him up; he screamed and fought to get away from the ninja. He tried to run, but his leg broke under him and he fell in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"We're not going to hurt you." Gai said reassuringly and gave the man one of his famous smiles.

The man seemed anything but reassured, but he nodded slowly and allowed Gai to help him to his feet. As Kakashi tended to the man's leg, he told them of the monsters that had attacked the village. There had been nine in all, each with a certain number of tails. The ninja shared a glance at the mention of tailed monsters, but besides that, remained calm. Kakashi finished with the man's leg and Gai gently picked him up on his back. They were about to look for more survivors when a voice called out to them.

"Leaving already? But it's been so long."

Kakashi felt his heart freeze at the sound of the voice and he sensed the terror in the man on Gai's back. This was the man that had destroyed this village and rendered the land unrecognizable. Kakashi slowly turned and found the man in a traveling cloak with his hood up. He couldn't see the man's face, but shining bright from the depths of the hood were the man's pink eyes.

"Shino, take the villager and run." Kakashi said slowly.

"I understand." Shino said, sensing Kakashi's fear.

"No." the hooded man said, "No one is leaving."

As Shino took the man from Gai's back, the hooded man roared in pain and a brown tentacle shot out of his back. It lunged at Shino, but Kakashi slashed through it with a kunai. Shino leapt into the trees and was gone, leaving Kakashi and Gai to face the hooded man. The severed tentacle retracted into the man's body and he seemed to be laughing.

"I see you took my advice, Kakashi." He said, "You've gotten stronger, just as I have."

"Why did you come back?" Kakashi demanded, "After all these years why couldn't you just die peacefully?"

"Hmm? Revenge of course." The hooded man said matter of factly.

"Enough of this." Kakashi growled, "Gai, time to finish what we started eight years ago."

"I admire your courage, but I don't fight anymore…I let my pets do that for me."

At these words the man howled in pain again and all nine Bijuu appeared before Kakashi and Gai. The two shared a look and they knew that they were thinking the same thing; they'd been in this situation before. Both put a thumb to their lips and drew blood before forming seals and slamming their palms to the ground. The clearing filled with smoke but when it cleared, Kakashi stood on top of a ninja dog and Gai stood on top of a ninja tortoise, both as big as any of the Bijuu. Each Bijuu lashed out at the two summoned animals, but Gai's tortoise launched itself at them and blocked the attacks with its shell. The tortoise fell to the ground and Kakashi's dog jumped off it and spiraled as it fell. The attack incapacitated the Rokubi and Nanabi, but the Hachibi and Yonbi both caught the dog in their arms, halting its rotation. The dog growled in anger and tried to bite the Bijuu, but they twisted their arms and the dog vanished into a puff of smoke. As Kakashi fell to the ground, he saw the two Bijuu glare down at him. They pulled back their fists to smash him flat, but then a spinning tortoise shell smacked them both in the face. They fell to the ground as Gai's tortoise landed next to Kakashi. Gai flashed him another famous smile and then the Sanbi attacked. Gai's tortoise countered and the two tortoise's shells collided. For a moment, Kakashi thought that Gai had won, but then the Sanbi's tails wrapped around Gai's tortoise. There was a horrible crunching noise and the tortoise vanished. As he fell, Kakashi saw Gai assume his Eight Gates stance and he instantly knew what Gai was planning. Through his Sharingan, Kakashi saw Gai's chakra skyrocket with each gate. He reached the Seventh Gate as he hit the ground and then he was gone. The Sharingan could hardly track Gai's movements but Kakashi still watched in awe as Gai unleashed a never-ending flurry of blows on the Gobi. He roared in rage and pain and unleashed his Afternoon Tiger, driving the Gobi to the ground. Gai fell earthwards again and then the remaining four Bijuu all attacked Gai at once. He blocked in time but the blow sent him flying back to where Kakashi was standing. He landed on his feet, blue sweat steaming off his body and he gave Kakashi a pained look.

"No…you can't do that!" Kakashi said, his eyes going wide, but even as he said that, he saw the fallen Bijuu rise back to their feet.

"I have no choice, Kakashi." Gai said, "If I can't beat these guys, then I'll do one thousand laps around Konoha on my hands."

"There you go with that again." Kakashi sighed. "At least let me show off too, alright?"

"Try to keep up."

With that, Kakashi raced forward to meet the crowd of Bijuu while Gai reassumed his Eight Gates stance. He began to concentrate on his chakra, but he could still see the lightning arcing all across the bodies of the Bijuu. It seemed to be having little to no effect, but still Kakashi was giving it his all. Gai smiled to himself and opened the Eight Gate.

Kakashi heard the explosion and turned to see a column of chakra erupting from where Gai had been standing. The amount of sheer power was enough to surprise even the Bijuu and they all began to form Bijuu Bombs. Kakashi could only watch as the combined might of all nine Bijuu formed into a ball and rocketed towards Gai. He stared through the Sharingan and even with it; he couldn't believe what he saw.

Gai roared in triumph as he shot straight through the Bijuu Bomb and it exploded behind him. He continued his assault and rammed straight into the Kyuubi's nose. Gai back flipped off the fox's snout and launched his final move. His fists began moving so fast that they set the air on fire, then the air itself began to pummel the fox and finally the very light reflecting off Gai's knuckles became his weapon. The beams of light hammered the fox until it looked like a meteor shower was raining on it.

"EVENING DRAGON!" Gai roared.

Kakashi stared in awe of the power his rival was capable of but then his face shifted to horror as the Nibi came up behind Gai. It raised its claws to tear Gai to shreds but it began to vanish. It glared over its shoulder at Kakashi who was sucking the Nibi in with his Kamui. The Bijuu roared in fury and was suddenly gone. Kakashi breathed heavily, but as he watched, Gai threw his last punch. A giant dragon made entirely of light erupted from his fists and dove straight through the Kyuubi and into the ground. Gai hovered for a moment and plummeted to the earth. His body hit hard and he lay very still. Rage burned inside of Kakashi and he gritted his teeth.

_I'm sorry, Obito…_ Kakashi thought.

He glared at Gai's lifeless body and he felt the power leaving his right eye. Gai's body vanished as well, but suddenly reappeared next to Kakashi, only Gai was standing on his feet, alive. He breathed and then looked all around until his eyes found Kakashi's. One was the same it had always been; black, calm and calculating, but the other, the Sharingan, was now dark.

"Kakashi…what did-"

"Izanagi." Kakashi said simply.

Gai's face was one of pure shock, but then it hardened into a serious scowl. Kakashi knew he wanted to say so many things, but they both knew they had to take care of the Bijuu first. Gai turned to face the beasts once more and he felt slightly optimistic. They'd taken two out for good, now they had seven to go. Kakashi shot forward ahead of Gai, Raikiri in hand. Only then did Gai remember the handicap Kakashi now had.

The Yonbi attacked and Kakashi easily dodged, but then it attacked with its tails. Kakashi leapt straight at the monkey's face and dodged the first tail and second tail, but the third found its mark and Kakashi was slammed to the ground. The Yonbi roared in triumph and made to slam its fists on Kakashi but then Gai's foot collided with its face. The Bijuu howled in pain and stumbled backwards.

Gai landed next to Kakashi who was getting back to his feet. Both breathed heavily as they stood staring at the seven remaining Bijuu. Gai sighed and once again, he assumed his Eight Gates stance. He felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked, Kakashi had removed his mask. For the first time, Gai saw him smile and he too assumed an Eight Gates stance. Gai smiled sadly knowing only too well what that meant. Kakashi reached his peak at the Fifth Gate and launched his attack on the Bijuu. Gai watched as he neared the Eighth Gate again, trying to decide which Bijuu to destroy. He'd just opened the Seventh Gate when he felt a knife pierce his back right where the Eighth Gate was. The pain was nothing to him at that point and he turned to strike his attacker, but he dodged just enough that Gai only tore through his hood.

"No Eighth Gate for you, I'm afraid." He whispered and then blasted Gai into the air with a surge of lightning.

Gai flew through the air, knowing it was impossible to open the final gate again. He also knew that the Seventh wasn't powerful enough to kill the Bijuu and the most powerful depression he'd ever felt washed over him. His gates began to close and the pain from the knife as well as the gates began to spread through his body. He landed hard on the ground and saw Kakashi fighting for his life at the Fifth Gate. They both knew it was pointless, but then again, that was what Konoha ninja did: they fought to win even if victory seemed impossible. Gai smiled and removed the knife from his back before getting to his feet. He reopened the gates and made it to the Sixth before his body began to give out. Gai gritted his teeth and launched himself into battle. Both rivals attacked the Bijuu with all their might, but they seemed to only annoy them.

"I'm not going to let you out-do me, Kakashi!" Gai roared as he punched the Nanabi between the eyes.

Kakashi said nothing but forced the last of his chakra into a Raikiri and leapt at the Ichibi. Its tail bristled and thousands of sand needles rained down on Kakashi. He ducked and weaved between them, narrowing the gap between him and the Bijuu, but then he felt a pain in his foot. He glanced down and saw that a needle had found its mark, but Kakashi didn't stop. His foot slid up the length of the needle and he continued to run only to feel the same pain in his side. Kakashi stumbled and then that same pain could be felt all over his body. The Raikiri in his hand burned brighter than it ever had and then went out.

Gai tore his eyes away from the body of his Eternal Rival and somewhere in his body, a hidden pool of power overflowed into him. He howled with rage and pain and forced open the Eighth Gate. The entire sky seemed to glow with the power that radiated from Gai and he leapt into the air for his true final attack. He began to fall back to earth and he spun himself like a drill.

"TOMORROW BOMB!"

Gai's very body burned away until he was nothing more than a mass of chakra falling to earth. The bomb collided with the ground and spears of chakra bristled in all directions, skewering the Bijuu. They roared in pain as the spears began to grow longer and thicker until finally the Bijuu were completely engulfed. The chakra spears continued to grow until they formed a large dome around the area. It flashed once and then exploded in a giant ball of pure chakra, destroying the remaining Bijuu.

Miles away back in Konoha, the shockwave of Gai's final attack violently shook the village. Everyone fell to the ground but soon got back up except for two. Lee and his son Iwa both laid on the ground sobbing. Only they knew what could have caused an explosion like that and what it meant; their sensei was dead.


End file.
